my buddy just went to the DMV the other day to pay for the registration on 2 of his off topic cars and while he was there they said that his 51 merc was VERY late on its registration, of course he disagreed and after they read registration info on the car it ended up being his old coupe that he sold about 4yrs ago to a guy in germany... he sent in his paper work and thought it was a done deal. they are giving him the same treatment as you Lance, talking about garnishing his wages and stuff, hes not one to give in to anything when hes in the right so ill be interested to see where this goes....
I always mention this on these threads. Two of my buddies sold cars and had to pay more than they sold them for in fees/fines/violations due to the title not being xferred. I sold a car that went out of country and luckily they only came after me for registration, I filed another title xfer form and was done. I just sold a car a few months ago and mailed in the change of ownership form the same day. Now I'm kicking myself for not going to AAA to handle that, since I don't have a clue who that guy is. Go figure, it never occurred to me they'd lose my change of ownership form. Now I'm thinking well of *course* they'll lose it, it's the dmv! Maybe i'll get lucky
You forgot the golden rule LSM, Only Third generation born and bred Californians can dis Cali and get away with it. But it serves notice that we all should make sure that things are done according to the way we should and not slack off on getting the paperwork in. I did just check the Washington dmv site and we can do the notice of sale online in this state. I'll do that on the ot car I sold this morning after the guy comes back and picks it up this afternoon. It is probably going straight to the crusher (don't worry it's a mid 80's front wheel drive) but it does run and drive even if it leaks water and the waterpump squeals. I have seen local guys walk the new buyers into the local car license/title office and stand there while they transfer the title on cars, Not a bad practice when you think about it. Lance-Speed have you got any emails or mail pertaining to the sale of that vehicle? Maybe even get the buyer to make a copy of his registration from his country and email it to you to show that the car has been registered in another country since a certain date. That is if he still isn't driving it with the California plates on it. I think If I lived in Cali and sold a car out of country I'd turn the plates in along with the notice of sale of the vehicle.
I lived in Cali I got hurt and didn't register mine or my kids dirt bikes in time so without notice they took it out of my tax return! Then they wouldn't give me my tags they charged me for! Now that I'm back in WA they want proof I moved even after I got all my titles transferred. We will see if my taxes are messed with again.
Screw California and move to mellow Michigan where you can get away with just about anything with the DMV. We could use a cute hot rod white boy around these parts.
Moral of the story: Fail to file your paperwork properly, or try to circumvent the system, you get screwed. I am still failing to see how this is a problem with the established system.
Just a little off topic, but a friend of mine is a DMV investigator. Did you know that it is illegal to sell and car that isn't in your name? Apparently he does "stings" all the time on sellers who generate complaints by neighbors.
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